


Trapped

by Lyra (Lawqua)



Category: The Blacklist (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Romance, F/M, Liz and Tom never had a relationship after Liz found out the truth, Season/Series 05, Snowed In, trapped in a cabin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22694326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lawqua/pseuds/Lyra
Summary: Ressler travels to Alaska to ask Liz to come back. Somehow they end up trapped inside of the cabin because of a storm.
Relationships: Elizabeth Keen/Donald Ressler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm not a native English speaker but I tried my best with the help of @drowsy-quill (tumblr).

“I’m not going back”, Elizabeth Keen says and sits on the couch. Donald Ressler opens his mouth to say something but Liz shakes her head. "There is nothing you can say. I'm not ready to come back." Ressler sighs and leans on the refrigerator.  
"Do you want a cup of coffee before you go?" Liz asks. Ressler looks at her with a weird expression on his face.  
"Head back?" he asks. "Are you going to force me to leave?"  
"Not force", Liz says. "But I'm not leaving, so sooner or later you're going to need to leave."

The cottage is small but warm. Liz is still wearing a jacket. Ressler looks weird dressed in brown pants and a sweater. Liz has never seen him in clothes like that. He always has a suit. It would look weirder, Liz realizes. Ressler in a suit, in a cottage, in the middle of nowhere. 

"I'll take the coffee", Ressler says. Liz gets up and walks to the shelf. She is almost out of coffee but she can get more later. It's getting dark outside. Ressler needs to leave soon so he can get back safely. Liz needs to get Ressler to leave before it's too late and Ressler needs to spend the night. And she can't spend the night with Ressler in the same room. Sooner or later she would do something stupid. Something that can’t be undone. Something she'll regret later. 

Silence falls over them while Liz makes the coffee. When she serves it, Ressler thanks her. Kate is sleeping next to the couch and Liz is starting to feel a little tired herself. After the coma, she gets tired faster and she ran a few miles in the morning before Ressler knocked on her door.  
"Do you really like this place?" Ressler asks. Liz doesn't need to think before she answers.  
"Yes."  
"Really?" he looks directly into her eyes and Liz feels weird.  
"Really," she says and sits back on the couch. She's getting warm so she takes the jacket off and places it next to her. 

"You're not drinking?" Ressler asks.  
"So many questions.”  
"So little answers."

It's getting even darker outside.  
"You should leave."  
"I'm not leaving without you", Ressler says. There it is, Liz thinks.  
"Then you need to extend your vacation", Liz says but she really doesn't want Ressler to stay. 

There was always something between them. A weird connection. Or maybe Liz was drawn to Ressler. Ressler never seemed to act any different when around Liz. There were moments when Liz wanted nothing more than to kiss Ressler. But knowing that it would destroy their friendship she never did. And now, in the middle of nowhere, she has problems restraining herself.

"Okay", Ressler says. "Thanks for the coffee." Liz starts to get up, at least she could walk her friend to the door.  
"No need to get up", Ressler says. "I know the way." Liz really is tired. She wants to read a good book, have some tea and fall asleep next to Kate.  
"Goodbye", she says. "It was nice to see you."  
"It was", Ressler says.  
"Please close the door properly behind you", Liz says.  
"Of course", Ressler says and smiles a little. It's a sad little smile Liz realizes. Maybe he had hoped she would return. But she is not ready to be a cop yet. 

Liz watches Ressler leave. He takes his jacket hanging by the door and a woolen scarf. He waves his hand to Liz before opening the door and disappearing to the cold night. Some part of her hates it. Ressler leaving. Some part of her would love to leave with him, or him to stay with her. Kate snores and that makes Liz laugh. She hears Ressler starting the car. 

Liz gives herself a minute to fantasize about what would have happened if she had asked Ressler to stay. Maybe they would have kissed. Maybe something more. Maybe they would have spent the night in the same bed. She would be okay with that but Ressler probably would not. So it's never going to happen. Liz is never going to take a chance with Ressler when so much is on the line. 

Ressler looked so handsome in the blue sweater. Liz is going to cherish that memory.

"Okay", she says out loud even though she is alone. "Let's get that tea." The water is still warm after making coffee to Ressler. It's just fine for a cup of tea.

Hearing a car drive to the cottage makes her confused. Is Ressler coming back? Or is it just Colin coming to check on her? Kate wakes up. She doesn't bark so Liz isn't worried. The words coming out of Ressler's mouth when she lets him in does make her worried.  
"There is a storm coming."


	2. Chapter 2

It would be suicide to leave. Murder to force Ressler to leave. 

"It seems like you're spending the night", Liz says. Ressler has snow on his jacket and his face is as white as ice.

"Do you know how cold it is out there?" Ressler asks. 

"Cold", Liz says. "We are in the middle of Alaska." She gives him a blanket and a cup of tea. 

"So", Ressler says. "Awesome place you got here."

"It's warm", Liz says. "You shouldn't complain."

"I'm not complaining." After that, they don't talk. Liz escapes the room to get more wood for the fire and when she comes back Ressler is trying to make a call.

"Phones don't work in the middle of the storm", Liz says putting down the wood and throwing few into the fireplace.

"Right. Awesome." Ressler sounds angry. Probably he doesn't want to spend the night in that cottage anymore than Liz wants him to.

"It's not my fault", Liz says even though it kinda is. She was the one who left and Ressler came to ask  _ her _ to come back. It's her fault that they are now trapped in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.

"Right", Ressler says and something in his face tells that he knows. He knows that it's all Liz's fault. And Liz doesn't want Ressler to look at her like that.

"Do you have any food?" Ressler asks.

"Something in a can", Liz says. "I was going to do some shopping this afternoon but then you showed up." Ressler sighs. Liz doesn't say a thing. She opens the fridge and takes two bottles of beer out of it. Then she takes the canned soup from the top shelf. Ressler sighs again.

"I'm not complaining", Ressler says before Liz has time to open her mouth.

"Better not", Liz says. "This is all I have."

"And trying to leave and get a decent burger could kill me", Ressler says. That makes Liz laugh. She hides her face and pushes the pot on the stove.

They eat in silence. Liz gives Kate fresh water and dog food. Ressler looks tired. Older. It's been months since they last saw each other. It's getting late and Liz wants to sleep. Liz yawns and Ressler looks directly at her.

"It's getting late", Ressler says. "You should sleep. Where's your bed?"

"Other side of that door", Liz says. Her bedroom is small but comfy. She loves her bed here more than back in D.C.

"You probably have only one bed", Ressler says looking around the room.

"The couch is too small to sleep", Liz tells him. The couch really is too small to sleep, even for Liz. And Ressler is a lot taller than her.

"I can sleep on the floor,'' Ressler says. In any other place that would be true but here the floors are cold and Liz wouldn't wish that for her worst enemy. 

"The floor is ice cold,'' Liz says. "You’d get sick."

"Are there any more options?" Ressler asks.

"My bed", Liz says and looks down. Ressler sighs.

"Well, we don't need to make it weird,'' Ressler says. "We sleep with clothes on and something between us." It's already weird. Liz's imagination is running wild. She has fantasized about this. Sleeping next to Ressler. Sleeping and more than just that. Instead of saying that outloud, she says:

"I don't have an extra toothbrush but you can use whatever you find in the bathroom."

"Thank you for the dinner", Ressler says as he gets up. "Even if it was just canned soup." 

"No problem", Liz says taking the two now empty plates. "You came all the way here, least I can do is offer you a hot meal." Ressler smiles a little.

"Bathroom?" he asks and points a small door across the room. Liz nods and starts to wash the plates. 

Ressler takes his time and Liz gets down on the couch. Ressler turns on the shower and she listens to the water fall. She watches Kate play with a ball and her eyes start to close. It's been a long day. She just wants to sleep. She must have fallen asleep because when a door closes she flinches. 

"I didn't mean to wake you,'' Ressler says. He looks shower-fresh. He's wearing the same clothes as before but looks so much better than before. 

"It's okay,'' Liz says. "This is not a nice place to sleep and I need to brush my teeth." 

"My turn", she says getting up. "Bedroom is over there if you want to..." She is not sure what to say so she stops talking and flees to the bathroom.

The second she closes the door between her and Ressler she realizes that in a few minutes she is going to be in a bed with Ressler. She lingers in the bathroom longer than is necessary. She is not ready to confront Ressler. Not ready to climb to a bed with him. Even though it's supposed to be  _ not weird.  _ Liz doesn't know how she can continue her life after spending a night with Ressler. And she definitely doesn't know how she can fall asleep with Ressler next to her, so close that she could touch him.

Liz looks at herself in the mirror and realises that she has to leave the bathroom. 

"You can do this,'' she says to herself. "It's only a one night and then Ressler leaves and if you want, you don't ever have to see him again." One night sleeping next to Ressler. One night she can forget or fantasize about later.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter have not been prove read. All mistakes are mine

Ressler is already in the bed when Liz joins him in the bedroom. He has taken off his sweater but is still wearing a t-shirt. 

_It’s not weird,_ Liz says to herself before closing the door. _Just two friends sleeping in the same bed. Nothing weird._ Ressler is reading an old book and he looks up to Liz. 

Liz panics. It’s weird. It’s too weird. She can’t do this.

“You okay?” Ressler asks. Liz doesn’t know how to answer. She looks down, so she doesn’t have to look Ressler when she climbs into the bed. Ressler has found her extra blanket and pillow. Liz still doesn’t talk and Ressler gets back to reading. 

The wind is howling outside the cottage. Liz can feel the cold in her bones even if she is inside and safely under the covers. The bed is big enough so she and Ressler aren’t touching each other and Liz can’t even feel the warmth of the man. They are too far apart. Liz wants to be closer. She turns her back to Ressler and closes her eyes. Suddenly she is not tired anymore and she listens to the wind. She can’t sleep this close to Ressler but still so far.

“Is the light bothering you?” Ressler asks and turns a page. 

“No”, Liz mumbles. _The light_ is not the problem. Ressler sighs and Liz is almost hundred percent sure that he is going to say something. But he doesn’t. Ressler reads his book for a few more minutes before placing the book by the bed and turning of the light. Liz wonders if she should say good night. Ressler beats her:

“Night.”

“Sleep well”, Liz says and opens her eyes to the darkness. 

The room is dark but she can still see the closet and curtains covering the window. It’s darker outside but she would love to know if it’s snowing. She loves snow even though if it snows it might be difficult for Ressler to leave in the morning. 

_Maybe I don’t want him to leave. Maybe I want him to stay here with me._

She turns and looks up. Ressler is right next to her, breathing steady. 

_He’s already sleeping._ Liz sighs. She can’t sleep. Resslers looks so handsome. Maybe she could wake him up and tell him that. Maybe she could tell him that she has a little crush on him. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

Liz gets up. The floor is cold under her feet when she tiptoes out of the bedroom. She absolutely can’t sleep next to Ressler. It feels a lot easier already when she closes the door behind her. She still can’t sleep but she is feeling a lot more relaxed than few minutes ago. Kate is sleeping on the floor and the fire in the fireplace is slowly dying. It’s still warm tough and Liz settles in the sofa with two comfy blankets. She picks up a book she had been reading many hours ago before Ressler arrived. It’s not an excellent book but it’s so warm under the blankets that she is not going to get up again.

When the fire finally goes down it gets too dark to read but Liz doesn’t mind. She listens the wind outside and Kate’s snoring. She rests her eyes for a second, keeping them closed. After weeks and months in the cabin she has learned to love the place. She loves the quiet and the dark nights. She loves snow and the wind in the trees. She was made to live in the middle of nowhere. Whatever Ressler says, she is not going to leave.

Maybe because she had her eyes closed or maybe because she was almost asleep, she doesn’t realise Ressler is standing right next to her before he opens his mouth.

“You didn’t like sleeping next to me?” Liz opens her eyes. She can barely see in the dark but she recognizes Ressler. 

“It’s not that”, she says first and then takes a pause to think for the best excuse. “It’s just weird. Sleeping next to you like that.”

“I understand”, Ressler says. His voice is so soft that Liz could die. “But that must be very uncomfortable. Maybe I take the sofa for the rest of the night and you go sleep in you bed. I’m the unwanted guest after all.”

“You’re not unwanted”, Liz says before she can stop herself. She sees the way Ressler looks at her after that. “And you can sleep in the bed too. I’ll get over it.”

Ressler nods and Liz follows him in the bedroom. It’s so dark she can barely she but she remembers where the bed is. Ressler hits his feet and swears lightly. They get on the bed the same way than the last time but this time Ressler faces her in the dark.

“I get why you don’t want to leave this place”, he says. “It’s comfy and peaceful. And I bet that the surroundings are beautiful.” He takes a second and even tough Liz can’t see, she is fairly sure that he’s looking at her.

“But people miss you at the post office”, Ressler finally says. “ _I_ miss you.”


End file.
